Thomas john palmer



(No Model.)

I :T. J. P BR. PROCESS OF MANUFAGTURI BOORATIVE MATERIAL. No. 440,055. Patented Nov. 4, 1890.

. UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE,

THOMAS JOHN PALMER, OF LANCASTER, ENGLAND.

PROCESS OF MANUFACTURING DECORATIVE MATERIAL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 440,055, dated November 4, 1890. Application filed June 9, 1890. Serial No. 354,832. (No specimens.) Patented in England May 2, 1888,1l'o. 6,554.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, THOMAS JOHN PALMER, a resident of Lancaster, in the county of Lancaster, England, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Processes of Manufacturing Decorative Materials, (for which I have obtained British Letters Patent No. 6,554, dated May 2, 1888,) which improvement is fully set forth in the following specification.

Myimprovernents are in the manufacture of an embossed and water-proof material suitable for the decoration of walls and other surfaces, and also for the applying to such material at the moment and by the act of embossing any woven or felted fabric or web of paper which has been previously stained or printed or otherwise decorated to a pattern agreeing with the design on the surface of the embossing-roller or device used for embossing the fabric.

In carrying out my invention I use a web of soft bibulous paper capable of being impregnated or saturated with a material-such as hereinafter describedwhich will impart to the web the capacity to soften under the influence of heat, so that it can be readily embossed or molded. The invention further includes the uniting with a web treated as described of a sheet of fabric bearing a pattern which agrees with that on the embossing-roller. I prefer for most purposes to make the described web of paper without sizing in the engine or vat, so that it will have very much the character of blotting-paper, and this I do either in the way described in the specification of British Patent No. 4,227, of

1883, granted to me, or by any of the ordinary or well-known ways. This web of paper-pulp I dry by the aid of drying-cylinders or by other suitable means. Having thoroughly extracted all moisture, I pass it by means of rollers or other appliances through a vessel containing a solution (or by other suitable means saturate the paper-pulp with a solution) consisting of suitable gums, oils, and spirits-such as caoutchouc and spirit, or milk of caoutchouc' and milk of balata or the residue from the distillations of certain mineral and vegetable oils-with a sufiicient quantity of its proper solvent or any mixture that will leave the paper-pulp so that it will soften under heat.

I find the following mixture answers well for some purposes: Nine pounds of good rosin, nine pounds of rosinoil, and fifty-six pounds of petroleum. The rosin-oil may be replaced by several non-drying oils, and the petroleum may be replaced by turpentine or other spirit. For other purposes I find the article commercially known as waX-tai1ingsa residuum from the distillation of petroleum or rock oilsmixed with a sufficient quantity of petroleum (this quantity varying according to the purpose of the article treated or to be produced) answers my purpose well. After passing the material through a gentle heat to drive off or evaporate some of the spirit I may then emboss it; but I prefer to air-dry it by hanging it in a room or by other suitable means, orI may continue the dryingby heat until most or all of the spirit has been evaporated. If I do this, I prefer to submit the material to a considerable heat toward the finish of the operation, and while it retains or is under the influence of this heat Iconvey it by suitable means to and under an embossing roller or device, beneath which I either use a counter roller or device consisting of aroller or surface with its face covered with an elastic substance or I use an endless elastic band or bands of felt, rubber, or other suitable material. In some cases I steam-heat or heat by other means the embossing roller or device.

By either of the hereinbefore described means I produce an embossed fabric (more or less) in hollow relief, which will retain its embossing and be uninfluenced by the moist ure of the paste or adhesive mixture used for fixing it to the surface to which it is to be applied. I

Inasmuch as no special appliances or apparatus are required for this part of the pro cess, and since the means employed may be of any suitable kind and form no part of the invention, it is not deemed necessary to illus trate the same.

For combining a web of paper after it has been impregnated or saturated as above described with a sheet of printed or other paper or fabric I may conveniently employ an arrangement of apparatus such as shown in the accompanying drawing, which is a diagram illustrating the relative positions of the rollers 1 sive.

and other devices employed. I bring the printed or decorated paper or fabric in along length on a roller A, and place this roller in suitable bearings before the embossing roller or device. To this roller A, I attach a friction pulley and strap for the purpose of keeping a good tension on the material. I then pass the paper or fabric over a roller 0, which I place in free bearings. The surface of this roller 0 will be different for different work. In some cases it will be best to have a smooth surface, and in others it will be advisable to have a thin felt jacket or other soft surface. Under the roller 0, I place another roller D, and near this, at a lower level, I place a roller D, of the same size as the roller D. Over these rollers Dand D, I stretch a rubber jacket G, and for the purpose of keeping a proper tension on this jacket I provide adj usting-screws for one of the rollers D or D, or both. I fix above the rubber jacket G a doctor-blade E, with suitable adjustments, and at the end of the blade E, I place side pieces F. Upon the jacket G, within the space inclosed by the doctor and the side pieces F, I place a suitable size-such as j apanners gold size-or caoutchouc dissolved in sulphuret of carbon,or any suitable adhe- I now bring down the paper or fabric H and pass it between rollers O and D, with its face downward, passing it forward over the jacket G,which, being in motion,will carry it under the doctor E. I now lay on thefabric H some of the before-mentioned'size or adhesive, adjust the doctor E, and convey the fabric H over the roller D to the embossing-roller I or other embossing device, under which I now convey the bibulous paper J, which has been saturated, as already described,and which is ready for uniting to the fabric H and for embossing.

As already described, the prepared paper after saturation is dried, preferably by heat, until most'or all of the spirit has been evaporated, and is delivered while hot to the embossing device.

Under the roller I, I fix a counter-roller K, which may have the counterpart of the design on the embossing-roller formed on its surface, or it may be a plain metal roller with a rubber or felt jacket; but for most purposes I prefer the roller K to be a plain-surfaced roller and to use with it the thick elastic band or hands, as hereinbefore described. It will now be seen that the fabric H and the paperpulp J will come together at the nip of the embossing roller or device, and its counter, and the two fabrics will beunited and embossed at the same time and by the same operation. If the fabric H is printed or decorated, care must be taken in starting that it is arranged to register with the design on the embossing roller or device.

Having now described and ascertained the nature of my said invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I claim is- 1. The process of manufacturing a decorative material by saturating a web of bibulous paper with a waterproofing substance such as herein described, which will leave the paper so that it will soften under heat, and subsequently heating and embossing said Web, as set forth.

' 2. The process of manufacturing a decorative material by saturating a web of bibulous paper with a waterproofing substance such as described, which will soften under heat, heating the said web, and uniting with it by the act of embossing a sheet of printed, decorated, stained, or other paper or fabric, substantially as described.

' In testimony whereof I have signed this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

THOMAS JOHN PALMER.

Witnesses:

W. 0. Rorun, Solicitor, Bank Building, Lancaster.

WM. H. LORD, Solicitor-l9 Clerk, Lancaster. 

